Student Assembly

MINUTES
Cornell University Student Assembly
May 6, 2010
4:45pm
Willard Straight Hall, Memorial Room

I. Call to Order

R. Salem called the meeting to order at 4:50.

II. Roll Call

Voting Members Present: I. Akinpelu, V. Andrews, C. Basil, M. Danzer, M. DeLucia, R. Desai, A. Gitlin, Z. Glasser, N. Junewicz, N. Kumar, A. Latella, A. Nicoletti, N. Raps, J. Rau, A. Raveret, R. Salem, U. Smith, K. Welch, H. Yang

Non-Voting Members Present: A. Cowen, R. Rodewald, A. Flye

Voting Members Excused Absent: A. Brokman, J. Min, S. Purdy

Voting Members Unexcused Absent: C. Moreno

III. Approval of the Minutes

The minutes from the 4–29 meeting were approved.

IV. Open Microphone

Chauncey Jenkins from the Ivy Council gave an update on the Council’s new missions and plans for the summer to foster student leadership among the Ivy League schools. There will be an Ivy China trip. Mayor Bloomberg will be speaking this year.

V. Announcements/Reports

1. Public Relations Update�Vincent Andrews & Natalie Raps

N. Raps asked for all representatives to look over the articles that involve them over the past two semesters and see if there are any problems. She needs them for the press packet. WVBR now has an attached website for the SA.

2. End of the Year Report�Rammy Salem

R. Salem said he will put together the report and send it to the SA members to look over before sending it to President Skorton.

3. Cornell Cinema Ticket Price Increase Update (5:45pm)�Chris Riley

C. Riley said the Cinema will raise ticket price for undergrad from $4 to $4.50, since the Cinema will receive different amounts of money from undergrad and grad student activity fees.

N. Kumar was concerned because he was told the student activity fee was not used for the student tickets but to support the institution of the Cornell Cinema. This increase should have come up to the SA earlier in the semester. What was the student advisory board’s response?

C. Riley said the student advisory board was mostly responsible for marketing and programs. There was general discussion about the cut.

M. Danzer asked if there has been consideration to cut some of the less widely appealing programs. That strategy should be considered before raising the prices.

V. Andrews asked why this is presented at the last meeting of the semester instead of the first, when the allocations were passed last semester. C. Riley said we took a long time to consider what we should do.

V. Andrews asked why students were not involved in the decision. C. Riley said we are not structured as a student group. We are a professional institution. But we did listen to student input.

V. Andrews asked what the impact on attendance will be if the prices are raised. C. Riley said we are concerned about the reduced attendance.

V. Andrews asked then why isn’t Cornell Cinema considering digging into its reserves? C. Riley said we are projecting a deficit next year even with the ticket price raise, and the reserves will go toward covering that deficit.

I. Akinpelu said this seems to be targeting the undergrad students. C. Riley said this isn’t an attack; it’s a tough business decision.

A. Nicoletti said the SA dropped the funding for the Cinema because it thought only a minority of the students use the Cinema and that minority should pay more. This is exactly what is happening here, so there should be no surprise.

R. Desai said there is no projected increase in income with the increase of ticket price. C. Riley said we did not put the increased income in the budget because we were not planning on a ticket price increase.

U. Smith said since the SA did cut the Cinema’s funding, the Cinema has to make up for the difference somehow. Granted, the Cinema came to the SA late in the semester, but there was a lack of initiative for communication from both parts. He was bothered by the fact senior citizens have to pay the extra 50 cents when the grad students don’t have to pay an increase.

N. Kumar said he supports the ticket raise but disagrees with the process the decision was reached. The SA is willing to work with the Cinema more. He moved to postpone the resolution indefinitely.

The motion to postpone was approved by a vote of 10–6−0.

4. Dress Code Resolution

Raveret introduced the resolution and said people who care about the assembly should present themselves in a respectful way.

V. Andrews said this should be up to next year’s SA and moved to postpone indefinitely.

The motion to postpone was approved by a vote of 9–6−1.

VI. Unfinished Business

1. R. 81- Charter Revisions�Alex Cowen ‘10

A. Cowen said the changes have been changed after discussions with A. Epstein and V. Andrews. There was an amendment to change article 4 section 7 to say “recalling SA representative from the UA.” The amendment was passed by a hand vote of 16–0−0.

C. Basil asked about the previous resolutions that change the charter bylaws. A. Cowen said there will need to be a motion to authorize him to rectify the previous charter changes.

A. Nicoletti made an amendment to strike out parts of special rules order under consultation. Ray Mensah said this is a good change.

N. Kumar called for acclamation. No dissent. The amendment was passed.

M. Danzer read the amendment regarding the motion regarding the parliamentarian rectifying the charter. V. Andrews seconded. M. DeLucia called for acclamation. No dissent.

R. Salem read an amendment. It was seconded and passed by acclamation.

R. Mensah wanted to change parts of article 8 section 3. V. Andrews cautioned that there shouldn’t be too many amendments that change the charter fundamentally.

There was a call to question. There was no dissent. The resolution was passed with a vote of 18–0−0.

Daniel Horowitz and J. Rau presented a resolution that called for Cornell’s termination of employment of Robert Sarachan, the Ithaca city prosecutor employed as a professor. D. Horowitz said Sarachan prosecutes and targets Cornell students disproportionally and should be removed from Cornell’s employment. The noise ordinances he helped to draft were overly strict and unfairly targeted college students.

N. Kumar said this raises a lot of important points that need closer examination. He moved to table indefinitely. By a vote of 9–6−1, the resolution was tabled.

Housing Lottery Resolution

R. Salem said in the resolution, the term number was changed from 1 to 2 semesters.

There was a call to question. It was seconded without dissent. The resolution was passed by a vote of 18–0−0.

Public Service amendment

R. Salem made the amendment to the public service resolution from the previous meeting that add a responsibility to the public service committee to decide who get the awards.

There was a call to question. It was seconded without dissent. A. Cowen said there cannot be charter changes within a week of classes ending. The SA next year will vote on this.

C. Basil moved to table until next year. By a vote of 12–3−0, the amendment was postponed indefinitely.

Dissociation of Ivy Council Resolution

V. Andrews said he was uncomfortable cutting the Council out of the SA charter when there are conferences in the summer and they have no independent funding.

M. Danzer suggested amending the resolution with a time frame that extends into the next semester.

R. Salem amended the resolution by extending a time frame when the resolution goes into effect.

C. Basil said there is no need to cut the Ivy Council out of the charter. The SA could just get SAFC to co-sponsor. He moved to postpone the resolution indefinitely. It was seconded. By a vote of 14–2−0, the resolution was postponed indefinitely.

Academic calendar

M. Danzer said the graduation of class of 2012 will be over a Jewish holiday and encouraged the administration to change the date.

C. Basil said the SA should look closer at the structure of the academic year.

V. Andrews said the Faculty Senate is slow at responding. The SA should look more closely before approving any changes.

R. Desai said the Dean is looking for a SA member to join the ad-hoc committee to review the calendar. He called to question. It was seconded without dissent.

By a vote of 15–2−0, the academic calendar was passed.

VII. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 6:28.